Silver Spirits Pkg on Viking

Keith 1010 suggested I post my question on this forum. We have a shipboard credit as a result of our early booking. Can we use our credit to purchase the SS beverage pkg & can we purchase this pkg as we board or through the Viking rep at the Budapest hotel before departure. Viking will not answer this question. If not can we use the credit for tips or in the gift shop. What Ypres of items are a ilable in the gift shop, I realize it may not be as extensive as one would find on a larger ship. We have already booked & paid for our optional tours. Thank you for any information.

Self correct, grrr. That is types of items available to purchase in the gift shop.

You can purchase it onboard. Just ask the bartender in the lounge.

Some additions. We used an OBC for laundry, and I believe we use the balance for a portion of our gratuities.

Thanks Tipsy! That will be handy if we can use our OBC & purchase the SS from the bartender. We did not want to stand in a que on arrival at registration & a cocktail after checking in would be lovely.

The small gift shops have Viking apparel. Very overpriced. Some children's travel books. Very limited. You could use your OBC to purchase a future cruise voucher. Pay $100 for a voucher worth $200

Being first time river cruises, I did not know about the option to purchase vouchers, thanks.

Being first time river cruises, I did not know about the option to purchase vouchers, thanks.

Just make sure that you understand the terms of the vouchers.

I do NOT think that you can use OBC for gratuities.

Agree with deec, OBC can not be used for gratuities.

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Keith 1010 suggested I post my question on this forum. We have a shipboard credit as a result of our early booking. Can we use our credit to purchase the SS beverage pkg & can we purchase this pkg as we board or through the Viking rep at the Budapest hotel before departure. Viking will not answer this question. If not can we use the credit for tips or in the gift shop. What Ypres of items are a ilable in the gift shop, I realize it may not be as extensive as one would find on a larger ship. We have already booked & paid for our optional tours. Thank you for any information.

We just got back from Viking Kvasir May 24-31 Rhine Getaway. We signed up when we checked in, but the drink servers will also ask if you are interested when you order your first round. It then goes onto your onboard tab, and your shipboard credits will be applied.

Thanks Mark, that was very helpful. I hope you had a great cruise.

Thanks Mark, that was very helpful. I hope you had a great cruise.

Yes it was a great cruise. With the Silver Spirits package, when they came around to pour dinner wine, they would instead hand us a wine menu. My wife found a German Pinot Noir that she really liked, so usually would have a bottle of that at the dinner table each day. They wanted you to sign a tab each day, but you usually only did it once - though sometimes the tab you signed in the second-deck dining room didn't make it up to the bar, so you had to sign one there again.

For those trying to decide if it was worth it, it definitely was for us. Since dinner is not until 7pm, there is usually time for one or 2 cocktails while socializing and during the port talks before dinner. Then we would split the bottle of wine for dinner, and after dinner would have additional cocktails while socializing in the lounge. And no, we do NOT drink that much at home :-) We did tip the bartender and the server who usually waited on us separate from the crew gratuity at the end of the cruise, since they had treated us so well. Actually EVERYONE on the ship treated us well.

Mark thanks so much. My husband dislikes any confusion & always likes to plan ahead. Since it I still our first river cruise after numerous European bus tours we decided to give a cruise a go. Packing & unpacking once even tough we loved our Trafagar & Inisght tours but as we age we have become lazier!! With the SSP he feels it will be a smoother visit to the bar. We are not heavy drinkers but do enjoy a cocktail before dinner & may prefer a wine on the menu. Since we have an OBC this seems a good way to see if it will be worth it. I hope the water levels are agreeable & if we love this cruise I hope we are able to do others. Cheers!

Mark thanks so much. My husband dislikes any confusion & always likes to plan ahead. Since it I still our first river cruise after numerous European bus tours we decided to give a cruise a go. Packing & unpacking once even tough we loved our Trafagar & Inisght tours but as we age we have become lazier!! With the SSP he feels it will be a smoother visit to the bar. We are not heavy drinkers but do enjoy a cocktail before dinner & may prefer a wine on the menu. Since we have an OBC this seems a good way to see if it will be worth it. I hope the water levels are agreeable & if we love this cruise I hope we are able to do others. Cheers!

Your husband sounds like me :-) Which is why we booked everything through Viking, as it made things SO much simpler for us (I WANTED to be lazy and let someone else deal with the details!). They took great care of us ex. my wife has some dietary restrictions, so the Maitre'D would meet her every day at breakfast to go over the lunch and dinner menus with her so they could prepare dishes per her needs.

If you go to the daily port talks before dinner each day, and read the Viking Daily they give you each night, you really should not have any confusion during the cruise. And if you have any questions, just ask. And the ship is small enough that they staff will get to know you by the second day.

We used our onboard credit for excursions, laundry and drinks. We opted not to get the SS package. The beer and wine for lunch and dinner were fine for me; our wine-drinking pals bought bottles of wine while in ports which was fun -- we sampled those in the evenings.

Thanks. DAPT, Luv your user name. Yes pets are family!